


Cut and Bled

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 11:36:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20308843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: AU where Diana came back in place of Krycek in season 2





	Cut and Bled

1

He looks feels vaguely guilty as he introduces Diana. “We knew each other…a few years back.” Scully politely nods her head in the woman’s direction but doesn’t shake her extended hand.

“What Fox is trying to say, is that we discovered the X-Files together.” There’s a hint of self-satisfaction in Diana’s lingering smile but he turns to look at the body and Scully talks about her findings.

“Notice the pugilistic attitude of the body.”

Oof. Good choice of descriptor, Scully, he thinks, as Diana brings her hand back in front of her body, fist clenched.

When Scully tells Mulder she thinks the victim believed he was burning, Mulder looks to Diana for comment. He realises too late that there is going to be no debate, no proffering of alternative theories, no checks and balances.

He’s aware of Scully’s eyes on them as they turn to leave. Perhaps, their separation is, in fact, a good thing for her. She can still be head of Bureau. Without him.

2

When Scully’s office is trashed, Mulder tells her they’ve never been in more danger. Diana calls him later, asks him to meet her for a drink. He sits and listens to her tell him about her time in Europe but her stories are vague on detail but full of self-congratulatory anecdotes.

“Why did you take this assignment?” he asks, enjoying the burn of whiskey a little too much.

“I missed you,” she says and her knee brushes his. Until he met Scully, he always thought Diana was a trailblazer, a bold woman in a man’s world. Now, she just looks a little desperate. He pays for his drinks and tells her he’ll see her around.

“I’m your partner, Fox.”

He goes home, picks up the phone to call Scully, but places the handset in the cradle without dialling. She calls him later. Tells him she doesn’t trust Agent Fowley. That there’s something off about her.

“Have you been drinking, Scully?”

“What? No. I’ve been thinking, that’s all. That it’s odd she should show up now. When we’ve been separated. Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“You sound a little paranoid.” He laughs but it doesn’t sound right. Because if Scully is throwing up theories like this, he should be taking them seriously.

“Do you trust her, Mulder?”

He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t sleep.

3

Diana watches him swim and he keeps his face under the water for as long as he can before she calls him out of the pool. On the way to the scene, Diana’s phone rings incessantly.

“Don’t let me get in your way,” he says, pulling up and killing the engine.

“You didn’t used to be this aloof, Fox. I thought we had something…more than just a partnership.”

He opens the door. “That was before.”

“Before what?” She slams her door and marches to his side. “Before you reopened the Files without me? Before Scully? Is that it? You miss her constant questioning and doubt? You miss her trying to debunk your work? She was a spy, Fox.”

There’s something alien about her hand on his arm. It just serves to demonstrate how much has changed in the years they’ve been apart. “I have a job to do here, Diana.”

He unpeels her fingers and walks into the building.

4

The moment when he sees the pain in Mrs Scully’s eyes that he fully comprehends that she’s gone, really gone. And he can’t let her be gone forever. That is not an option. Diana sounds sympathetic, says all the right things, but she’s stiff and awkward, telling him to go home and get some sleep.

They end up at Skyland Mountain. He can feel Scully slipping through his fingers in the same way he feels Diana crawling under his skin. Barry has no answers, he knows that. The truth is stark and terrifying. The truth is he didn’t save Samantha and he might not save Scully. Diana offers no comfort, just highlights how disaffected he is. How his opposition has left him stranded, without support. He’s as alone now as he’s ever been.

5

Disappointment, despair, rage. That’s what he feels when Diana disappears. He’s transported back to the time she left him. It cuts. It bleeds. It humiliates. But it doesn’t surprise. He just wants Scully back. He needs her back. And when she’s returned, he dares to believe that everything will work out.

“Mulder, I don’t remember anything after…Duane Barry…”

“Doesn’t matter…” he says and he means it, because for once in his life he doesn’t want to believe.


End file.
